Lance Armstrong fails to block $100m lawsuit

The government joined the case in 2013 after the seven-time Tour de France victor admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

It came nearly seven years after the government joined a lawsuit filed by Floyd Landis, a former teammate of the seven-time Tour de France victor. Landis stands to gain up to 25 per cent of whatever sum the government recovers.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong has lost a bid to quash a $100 million U.S. government lawsuit over damages the U.S. Postal Service claims it suffered because of his secret doping while racing for the agency.

Lance Armstrong led the United States postal team to a number of Tour de France victories. Armstrong got almost $13.5 million.

"Armstrong claimed that "(t) he government's actual damages are zero" because it received the benefit of his name and work while USPS sponsored his team from 1996 to 2004.

Armstrong's defence team argued the USPS had not suffered any damaged in the scandal, and profited from the sponsorship deal. In 2013, the feds joined the lawsuit and sued Armstrong under the False Claims Act, saying he violated his contract with the USPS by using performance-enhancing drugs.

While, he tried to prevent a trial and applied to have the case decided by summary judgment, Armstrong now seems destined for a court appearance and could be ruined if the case goes against him, says the London Evening Standard. "The same could be said of Landis, whose role in this entire affair some would view as less than pure".

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong's attorney Elliot Peters says there was no financial harm done and seemed confident that the government can not win the case. "So the government may now proceed to a trial that, as a practical matter, it can not win".

Landis' attorney, Paul D. Scott, of San Francisco, said he was "delighted" with the ruling and that the finish line for Armstrong is "fast approaching".

Armstrong conceded in 2013 that he had used performance enhancing drugs as a rider despite years of strenuous denials in the face of persistent rumors.

The foundation, which removed him from its board and renamed itself Livestrong, has struggled in the aftermath as donations and revenue plummeted.

Lance Armstrong (in 2001 photo) and the U.S. Postal Service are locked in a fraud lawsuit over whether his doping admissions while sponsored by the Postal Service diminished its brand. The media frenzy that followed pushed the agency to sign the team for another five years.

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